Articles
The Emergence of iSCSI
When most IT pros think of SCSI, images of fat cables with many fragile pins come to mind. Certainly, that's one manifestation - the oldest one. But modern SCSI, as defined by the SCSI-3 Architecture Model, or SAM, really considers the cable and physical interconnections to storage as only one level in a larger hierarchy. By separating the instructions or commands sent to and from devices from the physical layers and their protocols, you arrive at a more generic approach to storage communication.
DAFS: A New High-Performance Networked File System
This emerging file-access protocol dramatically enhances the flow of data over a network, making life easier in the data center.
You Don't Know Jack about Disks
Magnetic disk drives have been at the heart of computer systems since the early 1960s. They brought not only a significant advantage in processing performance, but also a new level of complexity for programmers. The three-dimensional geometry of a disk drive replaced the simple, linear, address space tape-based programming model.
Storage Systems: Not Just a Bunch of Disks Anymore
The concept of a storage device has changed dramatically from the first magnetic disk drive introduced by the IBM RAMAC in 1956 to today's server rooms with detached and fully networked storage servers. Storage has expanded in both large and small directions - up to multi-terabyte server appliances and down to multi-gigabyte MP3 players that fit in a pocket. All use the same underlying technology - the rotating magnetic disk drive - but they quickly diverge from there.
Interviews
A Conversation with Jim Gray
Sit down, turn off your cellphone, and prepare to be fascinated. Clear your schedule, because once you've started reading this interview, you won't be able to put it down until you've finished it.
